Musicians who play stringed instruments, in particular guitars, use picks, also called plectrums. A pick is a small piece of thin plastic, metal, stone, bone, or other thin, rigid material, used to strum the strings of an instrument. Picks are usually, roughly speaking, triangular or teardrop in shape. The material, thickness, geometry, and tip of the pick affect the sonic characteristics of the instrument. For example, a really stiff, thick pick will have a very different sound from a thin, softer pick. The angle, depth, and direction of motion of the pick striking the strings is called the attack. The attack is individualized for each musician. Some musicians have quite an aggressive attack, striking the strings with a substantial portion of the pick, while using a locked thumb, putting quite a bit of force on the pick.
During extended playing, such as concerts, recording sessions or practices, stringed instrument musicians often find a need to use a new pick, for a variety of reasons. After playing for a while, a musician's hands may become sweaty or moist, making it more likely that the musician will drop or mis-handle the pick. While rapidly strumming, many musicians lose their grip on their pick, and drop the pick. Additionally, due to the thin, brittle nature of picks, they tend to break during prolonged play, especially when used with an aggressive attack. Lastly, with extended play, the point of the pick can be rubbed away due to string friction. As the pick loses its point, it changes sonic characteristic and the attack on the string. Relatively speaking, thin and medium thickness picks tend to crack or break more than thicker ones.
Ideally, when a musician needs a new pick during a session, a pick should be available to the strumming hand of the musician, with no time lag. If the musician must stop to grab a pick, it can affect the quality of the concert or recording. Additionally, it can disrupt the group with whom the musician is practicing. An ideal pick holder would allow the musician to get a new pick with a quick, reliable movement, without interrupting playing. The solution should allow the musician to get a new pick a number of times. In other words, the pick holder should have capacity for a plurality of picks, and it should offer a way of rapidly grasping a single new pick.
Currently, when a musician needs a new pick during a session, they have a limited number of options. First, they can stop playing and get a new pick. Second, they can use their nails, instead of the pick. Third, they can use a deformed or partially broken pick, until they have a reasonable chance to replace the pick. Fourth, they can use one of the existing solutions for a pick holder.
None of the current solutions in the prior art are ideal. Some musicians use small, clear plastic bags to hold picks. The musician will keep this bag nearby while playing. The problem with this solution is that the musician has to stop playing, pick up the bag, remove a pick, and resume playing.
Some musicians use pick-holder products that are designed to fit on the neck or headstock of the instrument near the tuning, such as the Wedgie Headstock Pick Holder. There are a substantial number of patents for pick holders mounted on or near the headstock, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,784,934; 5,127,300; and 6,639,136. The problem with all of these solution is that the picks are available to the wrong hand of the musician. In order to access a new pick, the musician still needs to cease strumming the instrument, reach to the headstock with his or her strumming hand, and then resume playing.
Some musicians use pick holders that offers access to a spring-loaded stack of picks. The prior art contains many patents disclosing various types of spring loaded pick holders, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,847,299, 7,626,103, and 7,629,522. These types of pick holders are sub-optimum for a couple of reasons. First, the pick holder will respond to picks differently, based on the surface texture, thickness, and material of the pick. Many musicians have a wide variety of picks, with the picks coming in variety of hardnesses, thicknesses, and surface finishes. A spring loaded solution would tend to jam-up with many of the picks that are textured in order to improve the musician's ability to hold them. Additionally, thicker picks would tend to be more difficult to remove. Lastly, due to the varying thicknesses of picks, the spring loaded holders that stack the picks, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,299, would tend to dispense more than one pick when filled with thinner picks.
Some musicians use pick holders that retain the picks using some form of friction fit. The prior art contains many patents disclosing various types of pick holders that use friction fits to retain the pick, including, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,299,485; 5,651,468; and 6,215,052. The problem with pick holders that use friction fits in order to retain the pick, is that the musician has to use two fingers to remove the pick. This means the musician's strumming hand must stop. Additionally, the amount of retention force for this type of pick-holder clearly depends on the thickness and surface finish of the pick, giving the musician variable retention force, which is sub-optimal. These types of pick holders make the musician prone to mishandling the pick, when attempting to remove one quickly.
Some musicians use pick holders that retain picks in a pocket, or pockets, sized to hold guitar picks. The prior art contains many patents disclosing various types of pick holders, pick slots, or both, including, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,785,708; 5,905,217; 6,472,590; and 8,097,799. Just a raw pocket, roughly sized to fit a guitar pick, makes a poor pick holder. The pocket will fit some picks snuggly and other picks loosely. Some of the prior art tried to overcome this problems, such as Stephen Vaughan's U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,708. This patent uses slots within each pocket to create proper retention force. The problem with the Vaughan patent is that it requires two fingers to remove a pick, precisely because it provides positive retention force. The U.S. Pat. No. 8,097,799 also uses a retainer to forcibly hold the pick. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,590 is for a pick holder sewn into a flexible arm sleeve. The flexible arm sleeve creates a force fit of the pick, while the flexible sleeve is being worn. In essence, these three patents are using a force fit in a pocket, which creates the same problem discussed, above. Other pocket-based solutions, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,217, offer just a single pick in a pocket or sleeve. Clearly, none of the prior art offers an ideal solution for a pick holder for a stringed instrument.